Does taking an oath still mean anything?

Why do people still have to take an oath on the bible to tell the whole truth bla bla blabor when they are sworn in to certain political posts etc... Surely this ritual has been long out of date afterall nobody is scared of telling lies and what about people of different faiths who do not believe in the bible, should they take an oath on another book?

Hahahaha, oath...? truth...?

I thought that both of those things were eliminated from society a while ago?

Eventhough one still has to take an oath when being sworn in, whether it be court or a presidency, that oath is just a set of words that one has to repeat to satisfy the traditions that are in place.

Once that oath is administered, one is supposedto tell the truth, but looking at society as a whole, wheteher one tells thr truth is puely a personal decision.

After having such high ranking people like Bill Clinton and Colin Powell telling us all aggregious lies (monica and WMN respectively), then most people are setting that example that truth does not need to be told.

Oaths and truths are all things of a time that has passed us by a long time ago.

Taking an oath is a very very powerful spiritual thing to do.
In The Law/the Torah in the book of Numbers there are details on what to do if you do make and oath; and there are some provisions for breaking an oath.
But in the teaching of Jesus and James (the brother of Jesus of Nazareth) there is the warning not to take or make an oath- just say yes or no.

Therefore the practice of taking an oath on the bible is totally backward (typical) relgion as the book says don't do it !
When one of our senior politicans with a bit of reputation of being a right wing christian came out with a press statement bemoaning the decline in people prepared to take an oath on the bible- i and others went on talk back radio and quoted from the book much to the delight of the talkback hosts who could see the irony and humour in what was happening.

Elsewhere someone asks if USA is Christain country- well the reply to that is this; If a deist or Masonic lodge member is part of your Christainity then ofcourse on that basis USA is a Christain country.
If your religion is still true to the words of Jesus and you love and obey him then USA is not and never ever will be a Christain country

To illustrate how serious and basic this is- let me take you to the handwritten draft copyof the declaration of independance penned by the hand of Thomas Jefferson. In this truely remarkable document (you should read some time) he justifies rebellion against the King of England justifiying that rebellion by some higher authority whom he calls "nature God" but it gets worse.... the word god in Jeffersons handwritten draft has a small g (See a 1975 Nat Geo on Jefferson) so this is not the same god as the bible god but rather is the diest version of the God and maywell have been one god among other higher gods (we do not know what Jefferson though but if his bible with bits cut out is anything to go by it was slightly different thinking to today)

Finally i have been impressed by the ability of people from Nepal to fight for the British empire as mercenary soldiers- the gurkas- what truely binds these men to their employer so that they are willing to die for Her is the oath that they take.
If you are in somehting that required an oath to get into- then repent to God for what you promised and ask God to deliever you out of it.
If you are contemplating doing something requiring oath taking-don't.

reply to post by g60kg

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when i found employment with the federal government i was required to swear allegiance but told them that i believe i should do as Messiah said---------and not swear(matthew5:34-37)so i was allowed to affirm instead after they found the paperwork that said this would be legal.

i soon found out that most of the "superiors" set over me that had sworn their lives away just viewed their "allegiance" as a joke.

besides trying to keep my word and do my job as i had affirmed loyalty to the government, i also had to try and determine not only what was legal but also when i was being conned by these jokers after getting told off a couple of times by their bosses for doing what i thought was a legal order.

some supervisors were making up their own rules for us to follow when they felt the urge to defy their managers.